COLLECTIVE SECURITY
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,--As a citizen quite unable to own any party political affilia- tion for reasons which seem to me both genuine and, in present conditions, inevitable, but deeply concerned—as we all must be—with the parlous state of. Europe, may I ask a question which I think baffles the minds of many people ? What is the meaning of the term " Collective Security " We know what it ought to mean ; we know what it meant at the end of the War. But what does it mean in present cir- cumstances ? I am sure that a complete inability to obtain a satisfactory answer to that question is, and will be still more, a reason for the slump in the polls of both Government and Opposition candidates. The ordinary man may surely be pardoned for not knowing what to think. The question is also rendered more difficult of consideration because it has -become somehow involved in the conflict of ideas between Socialism and Imperialism. What, indeed, is Socialism ? . Are we to infer that our Left-wing leaders would be prepared to see us involved in war between, say, the Fascist Powers and Popular Front Governments such as that of Spain ? I f so, what is to happen if a country like Spain (or even France) should go Fascist ?
My own opinion is that we are in process of witnessing the division of Europe into two camps—Bolshevist and Fascist— somewhat like the Reformation division between Catholics and Protestants in which Elizabeth played what seems to me to have been the only possible part to promote ultimate human welfare. Our Left-Wingers are far too ready to assume that the future is with Bolshevism. Is it useless to appeal to them to help to preserve British territory from a conflict which may have deadly consequences for them as well as for other people ?
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